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Monk of the Silver Fist
The Monks of the Silver Fist are an order of martial artists that have perfected the way of the bodyguard. Their unique use of gauntlets and greaves protects their hands and adds weight to the attacks they make in defense of their charges. Weapon and Armor Proficiency A monk of the silver fist gains proficiency with gauntlets and bucklers in addition to their normal weapon and armor proficiencies. Maneuvers A monk of the silver fist begins his career with knowledge of three martial maneuvers. The disciplines available to him are Eternal Guardian, Iron Tortoise, and Mithral Current. A monk of the silver fist gains Bluff and Perform as class skills. Once the monk of the silver fist knows a maneuver, he must ready it before he can use it (see Maneuvers Readied, below). A maneuver usable by monk of the silver fist is considered an extraordinary ability unless otherwise noted in it or its discipline’s description. A monk of the silver fist’s maneuvers are not affected by spell resistance, and he does not provoke attacks of opportunity when he initiates one. The monk of the silver fist learns additional maneuvers at higher levels, as indicated on Table: Archetype Maneuver Progression. The maximum level of maneuvers gained through monk of the silver fist levels is limited by those listed in that table as well, although this restriction does not apply to maneuvers added to his maneuvers known through other methods, such as prestige classes or the Advanced Study feat. A monk of the silver fist must meet a maneuver’s prerequisite to learn it. See the Systems and Use chapter in Path of War for more details on how maneuvers are used. Upon reaching 4th level, and at every even numbered initiator level thereafter (6th, 8th, 10th, and so on), the monk of the silver fist can choose to learn a new maneuver in place of one he already knows. In effect, he loses the old maneuver in exchange for the new one. He can choose a new maneuver of any level he likes, as long as he observes the restriction on the highest-level maneuvers he knows; the monk of the silver fist need not replace the old maneuver with a maneuver of the same level. He can swap only a single maneuver at any given level. A monk of the silver fist’s initiation modifier is Wisdom, and each monk of the silver fist level is counted as a full initiator level. Maneuvers Readied A monk of the silver fist can ready all three of his maneuvers known at 1st level, and as he advances in level and learns more maneuvers, he is able to ready more, but must still choose which maneuvers to ready. A monk of the silver fist must always ready his maximum number of maneuvers readied. He readies his maneuvers by meditating or performing martial katas for ten minutes. The maneuvers he chooses remain readied until he decides to practice again and change them. The monk of the silver fist does not need to sleep or rest for any long period of time in order to ready his maneuvers; any time he spends ten minutes meditating, he can change his readied maneuvers. A monk of the silver fist begins an encounter with all his readied maneuvers unexpended, regardless of how many times he might have already used them since he chose them. When he initiates a maneuver, he expends it for the current encounter, so each of his readied maneuvers can be used once per encounter (unless he recovers them, as described below). In order for the monk of the silver fist to recover maneuvers, he must take a full-round action, moving up to his speed, then granting an adjacent ally (including himself) an insight bonus to their AC and on saving throws equal to his monk of the silver fist initiation modifier for one round. If he does so, he recovers a number of expended maneuvers equal to his monk of the silver fist initiation modifier (minimum 2). Alternately, the monk of the silver fist may center himself and realign his ki, recovering a single maneuver as a standard action. Stances Known A monk of the silver fist begins his career with knowledge of one stance from any discipline open to monks of the silver fist. At 4th, 7th, 11th, and 13th levels, he can select an additional stance to learn. The maximum level of stances gained through monk of the silver fist levels is limited by those listed in Table: Archetype Maneuver Progression. Unlike maneuvers, stances are not expended and the monk of the silver fist does not have to ready them. All the stances he knows are available to him at all times, and he can change the stance he is currently maintaining as a swift action. A stance is an extraordinary ability unless otherwise stated in the stance or discipline description. Unlike with maneuvers, a monk of the silver fist cannot learn a new stance at higher levels in place of one he already knows. This ability replaces flurry of blows and stunning fist. Gauntlet Strike (Ex) At 1st level, the monk of the silver fist becomes an expert in wielding gauntlets. He gains Improved Unarmed Strike and Weapon Focus (gauntlet) as bonus feats, even if he does not meet their prerequisites. A monk of the silver fist deals more damage with his gauntlet attacks than a normal person would, as shown below. For the purposes of the monk of the silver fist’s abilities and feats, a gauntlet is any weapon worn over the hands or fingers to aid in punching, including brass knuckles, normal gauntlets, rope gauntlets, and spiked gauntlets. This ability replaces unarmed strike. Shielding Fist (Ex) At 1st level, so long as the monk of the silver fist is wearing gauntlets, he gains a +1 shield bonus to his AC, and treats his gauntlets as bucklers in addition to their normal effects. If is gauntlets are enchanted, he applies their enhancement bonus on attack and damage rolls and to this shield bonus as well. In addition, a monk of the silver fist can wear gauntlets and use them as a shield without interfering losing the benefit of his AC bonus class feature. Bonus Feats At 1st level, a monk of the silver fist can select Improved Shield Bash, Buckler Bash, or Mithral Current Style in addition to his other bonus feat choices. At 6th level, he can select Bodyguard or Defensive Expertise in addition to his other bonus feat choices. At 10th level, the monk of the silver fist can select Discipline Mastery or In Harm’s Way in addition to his other bonus feat choices. This ability alters bonus feats, but does not cause the monk of the silver fist archetype to be incompatible with other archetypes that alter the bonus feats class feature. Mark of the Silver Fist (Su) Starting at 4th level, a monk of the silver fist is able to focus his protection on one ally to better guard them. The monk of the silver fist can spend 1 ki point as a swift action to apply a special mark to one ally (other than himself) within 30 feet. For a number of rounds equal to 1 + the monk of the silver fist’s initiation modifier, the marked ally gains a +4 circumstance bonus to their AC, and any enemy that attacks the marked ally provokes an attack of opportunity from the monk of the silver fist. A monk of the silver fist can only have one mark of the silver fist active at a time. At 12th level and again at 16th level, the number of allies a monk of the silver fist can have marked at a time increases by one. Intercepting Fist (Ex) At 12th level, a monk of the silver fist gains the ability to swiftly cross the battlefield in the defense of his allies. Whenever an ally is targeted by an attack, the monk of the silver fist can spend 1 ki point as an immediate action to move up to his speed towards that ally. If his movement ends adjacent to the targeted ally, the monk of the silver fist becomes the target of that attack, rather than his ally. This ability replaces abundant step. Reach of the Silver Fist (Ex) At 15th level, whenever the monk initiates a strike with a range of melee attack and a target of one creature, he can spend 1 ki point as a free action to also initiate the strike against a second target within close range (25 feet + 5 feet per 2 monk of the silver fist levels). This additional strike is treated as a melee attack, and uses the monk of the silver fist’s gauntlet damage as its base damage. A monk of the silver fist can only activate this ability once per strike. This ability replaces quivering palm.